Living In The Shadows
by NeverCaughtMyBreath
Summary: Sammie is the youngest Braxton sibling. What happens when she enters Summer Bay, and forms new relationships?
1. Chapter 1

Sammie Braxton was a force to be reckoned with. She was a mess of blonde hair and soft, tanned skin. Her blue eyes pierced straight through anybody she chose to glare at. She was feared by most of her class mates, but also greatly respected around Mangrove River.

She was the youngest member of the Braxton family, and consequently the only daughter to Cheryl and Sean Braxton. She had lived in Mangrove River her whole life, with her mother and three brothers; Darryl, Heath and Casey.

Unfortunately her father, known as one of the meanest drunks in Mangrove River, had walked out on the family - just a few weeks after Sammie was born.

Her three brothers were her best friends, and she was fiercely protective of each of them. In these past few years, she had come to act as a mother figure to the three young men, often when their mother had been incapable of doing so. When she turned a decent age, she relieved some of the pressure off Darryl; taking on the responsibility of keeping the house clean, and always making sure that there was a decent home cooked meal on the table for the boys, every single night.

Casey, the brother closest to her age had always been her confidante; when they were younger, they had shared every little detail of their lives with each other. As they grew older, they had grown apart; Sammie had developed a keen interest in boys, and found it much more fun to talk to the few girl friends she had about them, instead of hanging out with her troubled brother. Casey had fallen in with the wrong crowd recently, but no matter what, Sammie was always there to support him. She didn't let anyone give him shit.

Her second brother, Heath, was a completely different story. They had a volatile relationship at best; their relationship consisted of snapping sarcastic quips at each other, as well as constant shouting and fighting with each other. Despite this though, Heath and Sammie were still brother and sister, and for both of the siblings, that was reason enough to be fiercely protective of each other.

Her oldest brother Darryl, also known as Brax, had always been her hero. When the four of them were younger, Brax had been the one who was there to practically raise them on his own, helping his mother through bouts of depression and alcoholism, as well as being there to pick up the pieces after countless numbers of abusive boyfriends had ill treated her. Sammie only remembered Brax as this strong, protective cover over her and her brothers. She knew that no matter what trouble she got herself into, Brax had always been there to take care of his little sister, and pick up the pieces after the storm had passed.

Thick and thin, Sammie had been through it all with her family; her strong, dysfunctional family.

The young girl was walking across the rocky beach, her feet treading the water of the messy coastline. She had decided to take the long way home from school, ditching her friends and opting to walk the two miles across the beach, instead of just cutting through town. It was one of those rare days where she lived; where the sky was grey and the air was wet, with rain threatening to crash down at any minute. She stared intensely out to sea, her school shoes thrashing around in her left hand. The whole beach was completely peaceful - nobody really wanted to surf on a day like this. The water was starting to turn her feet blue, but she didn't mind. Her family lived about 10 minutes walk away from the beach, five minutes if you picked up the pace. As soon as she got off the beach, Sammie would be able to run home and heat her feet up underneath her duvet.

She quickly found herself leaving the beach, and treading onto the grass that was going to take her all the way home. She quickened her footsteps and before she knew it, the tiny house she grew up came into her eyesight. As she got closer, she began to hear her mothers voice scream above the sounds of nature. She sighed to herself, it was going to be another typical night at home. She entered the house, and came immediately into the kitchen/living room area.

Her mother was in the kitchen, hands flailing around, shouting expletives at Casey, whilst Heath was sat in front of the television, obviously trying to ignore the shouting match that was going on, a smirk adorned his handsome features. Upon seeing Casey's face, Sammie entered the kitchen. Her older brother was crying, tears strewn down his pigmented cheeks - his eyes red and puffy.

"What's going on?" She asked quietly, in between her mother's banshee-like screaming and the faint sound of the television.

Her mother walked up to the pair, her facial expression full of poison, a finger pointing at Casey. "Why don't you ask your useless brother what's going on?" She suggested, before flouncing off, the scent of cigarette smoke following her.

"What's going on Casey?" The youngest asked, laying a soft hand on her brothers shoulder.

The older boy sniffed and turned his back to he girl, his hands resting on the kitchen counter top. "I've really messed up this time, Sam." He hung his head low in shame, as his sister rubbed his back softly.

There was a long pause, when nothing but the television programme Heath was watching in the background could be heard. "They kicked me out of school. This was my fourth strike, and now I'm out." The boys sobbed into Sammie's shoulders.

Sammie really didn't know what to say. He had no-one but himself to blame? Casey had been suspended from Reefton Lakes High School 3 times before, each time for fighting. He was sort of notorious for it, as were the whole family. However, Casey seemed to have no self-control, and in times of stress, couldn't help but lash out. It was his natural reaction. Casey wasn't a bad person in any way, and in many had a very gentle personality, but when faced with a fight or flight situation, for him, it was always fight.

His sister, however, was more calculated. If she did get into fights, she'd make sure they weren't in school, or at least, not when there was anybody else around. Nobody thought she was an angel, but there wasn't many who knew exactly what it was that the young girl got up to or, indeed, was capable of.

The girl gave her brother a comforting hug, and wiped the tears from his eyes with her fingers. At that moment, the oldest of the Braxton offspring walked in, his facial features full of nothing but disappointment and fury.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

I know, I know, this is pretty short. But I wanted to stop before I gave too much of the plot line away ;) Please give me your honest opinions. Thank you for reading! J


	2. Chapter 2

Sammie laid back onto her bed, letting the soothing sound of Blink 182 fill her ears, and drowning out the noisy TV programme her mother was watching. It was about 10 'o' clock in the evening, and Heath and Brax had gone out around two hours ago, leaving Sammie, Cheryl and Casey to eat tea together.

Sammie had decided to make Casey's favourite meal, a pathetic attempt at cheering him up. They had sat in uncomfortable silence for most of the meal, with nothing but the sound of chewing to listen to. When the meal had ended, and each of them had finished, Sammie quickly gathered the plates to do the washing up, whilst her mum went to sit in front of the Tele again, and her brother disappeared off to his room.

Sammie's eyelids felt heavy, and her head hurt from listening to the loud voices of her brother and mother all evening. All she really wanted to do was go to the beach and surf. She wanted to forget everything that had happened that night, and riding the waves was possibly the only way of doing so. She had made her mind up; she had to get out of the house. Slipping her converse on in a hurry, she knocked carefully on Casey's door, making sure that he had answered before venturing in. He was sat on his front on the bed, reading a book. He turned round when his sister entered the room and smiled.

"Hey sis, what's up?" He turned over onto his back and slowly sat up.

"How are you feeling?" She walked over to him, and sat next to him on the edge of his bed.

"I'm alright." Casey's head was hung low, a sure sign he was disappointed in himself. "Brax didn't exactly given me an easy time."

"What exactly did he say?" Sammie asked, curious as to what her brothers had talked about when they had disappeared outside.

"He said that he couldn't believe what an idiot I was being, and that maybe this time he should leave me to sort out my own mess."

The younger of the two frowned, it didn't sound like Brax not to look out for his family. " But he's going to look into an alternative for me tomorrow." He continued.

Sammie smiled, relieved. If anyone could sort this mess out, it was Brax. "Well." She started, eager to leave the house. "Fancy going for a surf?"

"Now?" Casey looked at his watch, surprised. "It's dark outside."

"Ah, so you're not completely stupid after all." Sammie pushed her brother playfully, giggling enough to show the light heartedness of the situation. Casey laughed, standing up all of a sudden.

"Well come on then, sis." He put his hand out for her to grab, and she did so, being pulled up with a great force.

The pair both grabbed their surf boards, and raced each other to the beach. It was what they always did, and Sammie always won - much to Casey's dismay. Once they had reached Wilson's Beach, and the little bit of sand that was still uncovered by the water, they smiled. The waves didn't look too bad for this time of night.

They got out into the waves as fast as they could, trying with all their might to catch a successful break. Sammie managed a few times, and Casey once, but they soon realised that these conditions were not the best for surfing in, and quickly got out to wrap their towels around them.

"Well done sis," Casey stuck his knuckles out for Sammie to give him some skin. "You're not as crap as you used to be." He winked, smiling slightly.

"Shut up." Sammie shoved her brother again, this time with more force. Nobody insulted her surfing skills.

They both began slowly to walk back, neither really wanting to reach the house. They'd had enough of their mothers anger that night to last them a lifetime. As they got closer towards the houses, Sammie began to hear loud music, and what sounded like rowdy teenagers. She sighed knowingly, as she recognised three of the boys, all stood by their car, as Casey's loser friends from school.

"Caseeeey!" One of them roared loudly, throwing his hands up in the air and spilling his beer everywhere in the process. Sammie looked at her brother who was smiling at those boys. She made her best disgusted face when one of them greeted her, putting their arm around her. "Now then Casey," He nodded at Casey. "Baby Braxton." He looked down at Sammie, his beer stained breath seeping right up her nostrils.

"What's up loser?" She snarled, carefully removing his arm from around her. "I'm off home." She decided. "Are you coming Casey?" She asked her brother, but he was now a few feet away from her, admiring one of the boys dodgy looking cars. "I guess I'll see you later then." She said under her breath, turning on her heel and continuing the walk home on her own. She heard one of the boys yell something at her, but just continued to walk, all of a sudden in a hurry to get home.


	3. Chapter 3

Sammie picked at the hem of her new school dress, attempting to pull the material down to her knees. The school had insisted that all skirts had to be knee length, but Sammie's barely reached the middle of her thighs. It felt tight around her chest and hips and, well, it was just disgusting.

She twirled around in the mirror, making sure the dress looked okay at the back. It didn't. She was wearing knee length black socks, her black converse and her new Summer Bay High dress. She sighed, not happy at all with the way she looked. She grabbed her back pack and made her way into the kitchen, where Brax was stood with a milk carton in his hand.

"Can you not drink from the box please? It goes off quicker." Brax just shrugged.

"Do you want a lift or not?" He quipped, not an ounce of humour in his voice. It was too early for comedy.

Sammie walked over to the kettle and made herself a cup of coffee, mindlessly stirring the black liquid, her mind elsewhere. At that moment, Casey walked in, a confused look on his face.

"How do you do this stupid tie up?" He threw his hands in the air, obviously exasperated.

"Come 'ere." Brax ordered, beckoning Casey to come over. "The rabbit goes twice around the tree, and then down the hole." He prodded at the tie, and within a few seconds, it was neatly done up.

"You do realise how lame that sounds, don't you?" Casey snapped, walking over to the table and sitting himself down.

"Aren't you having any breakfast Case?" Sammie asked, raising and inquisitive eyebrow.

Casey shrugged. "Not hungry." He mumbled, eyes still half closed with sleepiness.

"You need to eat Casey, you're gunna need your strength." Sammie pleaded, walking over to the fridge and getting some juice, pouring it in a glass and putting it on the table in front of Casey.

Casey stood up with great speed, practically throwing the juice back in his sister's face. "I wish everyone would get off my case." He declared. "Especially you!" He glared at Sammie and stormed out of the door. Sammie sighed and shook her head. Who said teenage boys didn't have periods?

"Just ignore him Sam." Brax remarked, taking the juice from Sammie's hands and pouring it down the sink. "Now hurry up, or else we're gunna be late." And with that he walked out of the front door, joining Casey in the car. Sammie took in a deep breath, wishing for the day to be over already. She grabbed her school bag and joined her brothers in the car.

There was an awkward silence all the way into Summer Bay. Ever since that night they went surfing, Casey had been off with Sammie. He felt guilty because, after he got kicked out, Reefton Lakes High had said they never wanted anything to do with another Braxton again, and asked if Sammie could please leave as well. She had agreed; she never really liked school anyway, she had barely any friends there - most of them were older, and she would've preferred to go somewhere where she could keep an eye on Casey. So she had agreed to go, and Brax had got both of the teenagers a place at Summer Bay High. Summer Bay was about a mile away from Mangrove River, and had a reputation for being a lot nicer than Mangrove River, and apparently had "loads of hot chicks" according to many of Heath's mates.

It took about ten minutes to drive there, and eventually Casey and Sammie got out of their brother's car, bemused looks on the siblings faces.

"Good Luck." Brax nodded at them from inside the car, before driving off, leaving the two youngest Braxton's stood outside on their own.

Summer Bay High wasn't as big as Reefton Lakes, and had about half the amount of graffiti. It looked pretty much like your average school, and had quite a few students, all with identical uniforms, stood outside. They both began to walk forward at the same time, getting closer and closer to the front door.

"You nervous?" Sammie asked her brother, her legs like jelly.

"Of course not!" Casey snapped, he was probably to cool to be nervous.

"Me either." Sammie swallowed, entering the school and all of a sudden being surrounded by lockers. At that moment a teacher walked up to them, he had short dark and hair, and a t-shirt on - rather casual attire for a school teacher.

"Hey you must be Casey and Sammie." He mused, a big smile on his face. The pair just looked at him, thoroughly unimpressed. "Okay, your not big talkers." He laughed. "Follow me please."

He took the pair to Gina Palmer's office. Mrs Palmer was the head teacher, and was pretty decent looking, in a slightly overweight, middle aged kind of way. "Welcome." She smiled when they came in, an incredibly fake smile which suggested she's rather be anywhere else. She motioned for the pair to take a seat on the opposite side of her desk, and sat down in her own chair.

The next twenty minutes were spent with her giving them a lecture, and talking at them about how no type of violence was tolerated at this school, and wishing them well. She gave them their timetables and told them to wait outside, whilst she got two students to come and take them to their first class.

The two stood awkwardly together, new timetables in hand. There were many unspoken words hanging in the air.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning." Casey spoke first, his voice dripping with sincerity. He seemed genuinely upset.

"It's fine Case." His sister smiled. "I completely understand, you're just nervous."

They both laughed. "Yeah, but don't go telling' anybody that." Casey remarked, happy that the tension had been relieved.

"You know I wouldn't do that." Sammie smiled, briefly looking to her brother.

A tall blonde guy with beautiful blue eyes came first to pick up Casey. Sammie whispered her brother a good luck, and with that, they walked off together in silence - obviously not too impressed to be in each other's company.

Sammie waited there for another five minutes, wondering whether it would just be easier to find the class herself. It wouldn't take five minutes to walk around this school. Eventually someone came, a lanky looking boy with short brown hair and brown eyes. "Hey, I'm Dex." He said shyly.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Thank you so much for your reviews, they mean so much to me J


	4. Chapter 4

"So, what's this teacher like then?" Sammie asked Dex, as she strutted down the hallways, struggling to keep up with her new… "friend"

"Mr Murphy." He stated. "He's pretty cool I guess, just make sure you don't insult his music." He giggled nervously.

"Music?" Sammie questioned, expecting some eccentric old man, who liked to whip out his guitar and a pair of bongo drums at every given opportunity.

"Yeah, he's Liam Murphy, the ex rock star." He strained his voice on those last three words, making him sound slightly sarcastic.

"Oh my God, I had no idea he was a teacher now." Sammie grinned, she couldn't quite believe it. "I wonder how many more surprises this school has in store for me." She doubted there were many. It's just, she'd had a massive crush on Liam Murphy, back when she was about 12. She had his album, and knew all the words off by heart. She'd even had a poster of him hung up on her bedroom wall, but ripped it down about a year ago. He'd kind of dropped of the music radar when it was rumoured he had been admitted into rehab.

"Well…this is where I'm gunna have to love you and leave you." He giggled that nervous, adorable giggle again. He could barely look Sammie in the eye.

"Are you not…coming in?" She places a seductive finger on her lips, and pretended to bite down on her nail.

"Believe it or not, I'm 17 - so I'm not in your class." He did it again, Sammie couldn't help but grin at him. He really was the most adorable creature she'd ever met.

"What a shame." She stepped closer to him, their faces only inches apart. "I was looking forward to a bit of entertainment." She messed with his tie playfully.

"Yeah well…" He grabbed his tie out of her hands. "Maybe I'll see you around." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off. Sammie rolled her eyes, hopefully not all the boys in Summer Bay were like that.

She walked confidently into the class room, smirking at the teacher…Liam Murphy.

"Hey." He said, looking bemused. "And you are?"

"Sammie Braxton. I'm new." She giggled, and played with her hair.

"Well take a seat please, Samantha." Mr Murphy spoke, completely ignoring Sammie's obvious attempt at flirting. She did her usual confident strut, right down the middle of the classroom, and noisily pulled a chair out at the back.

The class was a bore, just a blur of musical rubbish. Mr Murphy seemed enthusiastic, which was cute and worth Sammie's attention, but what he was talking about was just so…boring. She didn't even take music at her old school, she knew nothing about it.

When the lesson had finished, she quickly gathered her books and hurried out of class. Maybe she'd find Casey on the way to her next one. She'd caught sight of where her next classroom was earlier, when Dex had walked her to Mr Murphy's class. She walked at a fast pace, really not wanting anyone to notice her. Suddenly, someone bumped into her shoulder, knocking her back slightly.

"Hey watch it!" She turned round to see who had been clumsy enough to walk straight into her- a rather short girl with long brown curls, and an upturned nose.

"Sorry." She muttered apologetically, not quite meeting Sammie's eye line.

"Yeah, you better be." Sammie threatened, aggressively moving toward her. Nobody bumped into a Braxton like that and got away with it. "You know, maybe next time you should look where you're going, curly!" She was towering over the girl, practically flexing her muscles to make herself seem more aggressive. The tall blonde guy next to the girl, who Sammie noticed as the guy who had walked her brother to class, stepped in between the two girls.

"Look I'm sorry." He pleaded. "She didn't mean to.""If you think-" Sammie was about to threaten them even more, when she felt a rough hand on her arm, tugging her back.

"What the hell do you think you're playing at?" Casey was stood next to her, his lips pursed in anger. He flashed a smile at Sammie's victims, and they walked off, both equally red faced. "This is our first day for God's sake, are you trying to make people hate you?""Oh, relax officer." She frowned, adding extra sarcasm to her last word. "I was only having a bit of fun." She smirked up at her brother, managing to shrug herself out of his grip.

"Well your idea of fun doesn't exactly translate to these people. And I don't exactly want to be the school freak this time round!" Casey spoke through gritted teeth, his face red.

"I'm sorry." Sammie apologised, backing down to her brother. She'd never understood why Casey had ever cared what people thought of him.


	5. Chapter 5

She got home from school that afternoon, and fixed herself a cup of coffee and grabbed herself a few chocolate biscuits from the cupboard. Seating herself at the kitchen table, she stared at the large pile of English and History homework she had brought home with her. It wasn't that she had really been given that much to do by her teachers, but ever since she was little, Sammie had been fixated on going to university and getting herself out of Mangrove River, of course, she'd never tell her family or friends that that was the case.

Her whole life, Sammie had it drilled into her that getting an education and going to school was a bad thing. When she was younger, too young to know any better, her mum used to keep her home from school every so often, often to help her with housework or to go out shopping with her. Nobody in Mangrove River seemed to have a problem with it, in fact, it was only Brax who would occasionally kick up a storm if she or Casey missed too much school.

At that moment, the two oldest Braxton's walked through the front door and walked noisily into the kitchen, stirring their younger sister from her train of thoughts. You could tell by looking at them, that they were agitated. Brax got him and his brother two bottles from the fridge, and they both stood leaning against the kitchen counter tops.

"What's wrong with you two?" Sammie raised her eyebrow, it must have been pretty bad to get Brax this worked up. Heath was always getting stressed about things, but Brax was usually the picture of calm and cool - only certain things could make him lose his temper.

"They closed the local down!" Heath stated, anger showing up in his voice.

Sammie failed to see how this was such a big deal. Maybe less boozy nights for her brothers would be a good thing. "So?" She shrugged. "Can't you guys just drink somewhere else?"

"You wouldn't understand." Heath gave her the death glare. "You're just a baby."

"I am not a baby, I'm 15!" Sammie stated angrily, furrowing her brows at her most annoying brother.

She was about to start a big argument with Heath, but Brax saw it coming and walked over to her. "Yeah, but you'll always be our baby sis!" He laughed, ruffling her hair. She swatted his hand away, flattening her hair back to it's natural state. "So how was your first day Sam?" He asked.

"Not great." She decided not to break out into a long rant about how cute the boys were there, and that there was one particular boy that had caught her eye. "The works easy enough though." She gloated, smiling at her own adequacies.

"That's our Sammie." Brax said, walking toward the back door. "You're a smart girl."

"Yeah." Heath followed him, passing Sammie on his way. "Too smart." He said through his teeth, knocking her purposefully on his way out.

Sammie just rolled her eyes, took a sip of coffee, and started on her history homework. She was just starting her essay on Empires when her mother walked in, bringing in the stench of fish from her job at the fish co-op.

"Hey sweetie." She barely looked at her daughter, as she rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. Sammie found herself wondering just how many beers her family went through in a week, she guessed it was a lot.

She took a sip out of the bottle, sighing as the cool liquid slid down her throat. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Homework." Sammie mumbled, her head in a textbook.

"You shouldn't waste you time with that stuff babe." Mrs Braxton walked over to her daughter, closing the text book Sammie was reading, and leaning over the table. "Go out and enjoy yourself with your mates." She laughed, before putting her beer back in the fridge and walking into the bathroom, most likely to have a much needed shower.

Sammie sighed once again, opening the book up at the page she was reading before, and regained copying some notes. She managed to get into a decent pace, and before she knew it had written about half a page of her essay - it was a start.

She heard a knock at the door, and got up to answer it, fed up of all these interruptions. Standing outside the door were two of Brax and Heath's mates.

"Hey boys." She smiled warmly at the young men, leaning against the door casually. "You here for Beavis and Butthead, or to see me?" She joked playfully.

Both men laughed.

"Well as much as your nicer to look at then those two, I doubt we'd be able to get you into any bars." Brody, one of Heath's best mates spoke. The other one whispered 'shame' under his breath, but nobody heard.

Sammie had always had a good relationship with Brax and Heath's River Boy mates, but they rarely came over to the house, so she didn't see them very often.

At that point, both Brax and Heath came out of their rooms, nodding at their friends. "Alright boys." Brax spoke, and they did their usual greetings. "See you later sis." Brax waved at his sister, and all four guys walked out of the door, probably to go start a fight or something.

Sammie walked back over to the kitchen table and closed all her books up, putting them in a neat pile together. She couldn't face doing homework anymore.

She thought briefly back to what her mother had just said, and got her mobile phone out of her pocket. She dialled her friend Keisha's number, putting the phone to her ear. She needed to get out of that house!


	6. Chapter 6

Sammie took another sip of vodka, just wanting to forget all the stress of the last few weeks. Going out every night and getting wasted had recently become her way of coping. She'd wake up every morning, disappointed with herself and hung-over, but still having to get herself up and go to school, working as hard as she could. She had also been trying to find a job recently, as things were getting pretty tight at home. Despite Brax's help, her family had struggled to pay rent, bills, and put food on the table every night. It had become a constant struggle just to get through everything, never mind feeling happy. It also hadn't helped that Heath had gotten into trouble with the police, for apparently smashing a bottle over some guys head - that guy being Sammie and Casey's teacher. If she hadn't been ostracized at school enough before, she sure was now. Nobody wanted to talk to her, and she had spent every lunch time sat by herself on the piece of grass outside the school. She had used her breaks to do her homework, leaving her evenings free to go out and get drunk with her friends. She couldn't help but look at her mother, and see the similarities between them; the wasted opportunity, the bitterness, the alcohol abuse.

Keisha giggled wildly next to Sammie. Both girls were laid on the hood of some guys car, in short skirts and revealing tops. There was loud music pumping out of average sized speakers, and cars parked all around. All in all, there were about 50 people scattered here and there, all stood in groups and having their own conversations around the cars. Sammie and Keisha, along with their girlfriend Paige, were talking to four guys; two of which were younger members of the River Boys.

"So do you girls come here every night then?" One of the boys, Jay, asked. Although he was asking all the girls, he was looking at Keisha, a glint in his eye.

"Most nights." Keisha answered for all of them, as per usual. "But sometimes we go out in Yabee Creak." She lied, they had never been on a night out in Yabee Creak, or anywhere for that matter.

Sammie took another sip of vodka, bored by the not so challenging conversation going on. Her eyes were beginning to feel glazed over, and she didn't want to stand up, for fear of falling over. Still, she felt liberated and stress-free, and it was all worth it.

She must have passed out for a bit, cause when she came round, Keisha and Paige were nowhere to be seen, and neither were Jay and his mates. She didn't even want to know what was going on or where they had disappeared to. She yawned slightly and sat up, noticing that it was still dark and the music was still blasting, but there were considerably less people stood about. If she had to guess, Sammie would say it was anytime between midnight and three or four in the morning. Not that it was very accurate.

She stood up with great difficulty, having to hold onto the car for support. She was tempted to sleep there all night, to not go home at all, but she knew she would be in trouble if her brothers caught her sneaking in past 4. Her shoes were making her uncomfortable, so she kicked them off and began walking towards the trees in her bare feet. She got far enough into the trees that she couldn't see a single person from the party, and slowly began walking the long walk home. The longer she kept walking, the sicker she began to feel, until she had to stop and bend over at a tree, as vomit came up her chest and out of her mouth. She heaved a few more times, then stood up straight.

She turned away from the tree, and walked the short distance left to her house. She tried to enter the house as quietly as possible, but failed miserably, tripping on the door step and landing with a thud on the wooden floor. She sighed, and went toward the fridge for some water or something to sort out her dry mouth. She reached in and grabbed a bottle, closing the door and nearly jumping out of her skin when she spotted Brax stood there, leaning on the door frame.

"What time do you call this?" He frowned.

"I have no idea." She slurred, putting the water on the table and taking a seat. Brax took a seat opposite her, leaning in.

"How did you get home?" He asked.

"Walked." She shrugged, as if it was no big deal.

"On your own?" She nodded and Brax turned away from her, a "tsk" on his lips. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is, ey?" He sounded sincere and slightly scary.

"I don't care." Sammie said, rebelliously.

"Well I do, and I don't want to wake up to the news that they've found your body, or that you're in hospital."

Sammie really didn't see what all the drama was about. "I can look after myself." She raised her eyebrows at her brother.

Brax sighed. "You can't though. You can't protect yourself like Heath and I, or even Casey."

"This is just like you!" Sammie got up quickly, her chair making a loud screech as she pushed it back with her legs. "Thinking I'm some weak little girl, when I'm not." She stormed out of the room, almost knocking into the door frame, but managing not to. She went into her room, and threw herself onto her bed, wrapping the duvet tightly around her small frame.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Brax had agreed to take his little sister out to Summer Bay for a surf. He thought she needed a chance to meet some of the teens from the bay, and hoped they might find some hanging out on the beach. They were walking across the pier, ice lollies in hand, gladly soaking up the hot summer sun and Sammie was talking about her new school.

"I just feel like I don't belong, at all." She sighed, squinting slightly as the sun was in her eyes.

"Well, do you even try?" Brax sounded exasperated, exhausted even.

"Me?" Sammie laughed at his question. "Why would I try?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot you were too cool for that." Brax joked sarcastically, with not nearly enough humour in his voice.

"Don't be stupid Brax." Sammie wasn't afraid to stand up to her older brother, sometimes, it seemed like she was the only one. "People here just have a different attitude to anyone else I've ever met. They're all…weird." She sighed, throwing the remainder of her soggy ice cream in the nearest bin.

"Well sis, maybe today you could change that." They were now making their way down the steps to the beach, heavy surfboards under their arms.

"The surf looks great." Sammie smiled widely, extremely excited. The surf at Summer Bay was completely different to the one at Wilson's. The surf at Wilson's was wild and crazy, with sharp jagged rocks that you had a job to avoid. At Summer Bay, the waves were slow and steady, and any experienced surfer could manage to catch more then a few.

The siblings got out onto the surf as fast as they could, eager to ride. As usual, Brax managed to catch a few more waves then Sammie, but that was only down to experience, and both were extremely talented in their own ways. Brax had a more aggressive approach to everything, being more used to the waves at Wilson's, whereas Sammie was more relaxed, and not afraid to take her time picking the perfect wave. They were both in the water for over half and hour, most of the time in fierce competition with each other. Sibling rivalry was a big thing in their family.

They both got out and dried off, Sammie putting her denim shorts and tank top back on, before making their way up to the land again, both of their stomach's rumbling.

"You did good today, kid." Brax said proudly to his sister. He was more than pleased that his sister was turning out to be a very talented surfer girl. "Maybe a little less drinking, and a little more surf, ey?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Will you lay off me about the drinking?" Sammie scorned, her happy mood soon disappearing and being replaced by a cloud of dread and regret. "You and Heath get drunk all the time, I don't see what the big problem is!" She would have thrown both her hands in the air if it wasn't for her board, so she settled with just one.

"Just because we do it, doesn't mean I want you to do it." Brax said quietly. At that moment, Sammie saw her Uncle Keith walk up to her and Brax, smiling as usual.

Uncle Keith wasn't actually her uncle. He was more of a family friend, and he had helped them out of a lot of sticky situations, many of them financial. He was a nice man, and not to mention a massive pot head.

She smiled at Keith before Brax turned to her. "Can you give me and Keith a minute to talk, please?"

"But I'm starving." Sammie whined and shook her head, wanting her brother to buy her lunch as soon as possible.

"Well." Brax gritted his teeth. "I'll be with you in a minute, you just go on ahead."

She sighed, and went on her way to the Summer Bay Diner, placing her surf board outside.

That was one thing she liked more about Summer Bay than Mangrove River. In Mangrove River, you could never leave anything 'outside' for fear of it being stolen. Here, you didn't even have to worry about anything like that.

Sammie walked into the diner confidently, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. She didn't want anyone to know that this place scared the crap out of her. She decided she'd wait for Brax before she ordered, just in case he wasn't happy with her choice. Instead of going toward the counter, she looked around for spare tables. The place was busy, but there was still a couple of tables going free. She spotted one and went toward it, changing her mind when she saw a familiar sat at the one next to it. She recognised him as Declan from school, or was it Damien?"You look as bad as I feel?" She quipped, taking a cheeky seat next to the brown haired boy and leaning her elbow rudely on the table.

The boy suddenly looked up at her, slightly dumbfounded. "Err…hi?" He sounded unsure of himself. "It's…uh…nice to meet you again…I guess." He choked his words out, barely making eye contact.

"So what's up?" Sammie interrupted him. "What's got you looking so glum?"

"Just…my sad, pathetic excuse for a life." He frowned, deep lines appearing in his forward.

"What's the matter? Is it girl problems? Mate problems? Family issues?" Sammie pried, she had always considered being an agony aunt…or not.

"Try all 3!" Dex stated, camply taking his strawberry milkshake and putting the straw to his mouth, taking a huge sip out of it. "No girl will ever like me…ever! I don't really have any mates, and well, my dad thinks I'm a freaking weirdo."

"Oh." Sammie sat back, a smile forming on her face. "Well…I like you, and I can be your new friend and, well, if your dad doesn't love you just the way you are then he's an idiot!" She liked to put it simply, and not beat around the bush.

"Thanks, strange person who I haven't even really met before." They both laughed, and glittering eyes caught contact.

"Anytime." Sammie's smile was wider than ever. She liked this boy, he wasn't quite as obnoxious as the rest of the Summer Bay High students.

"Hey." Sammie turned round to see Brax coming toward her, a very serious look on his face. "Look, I've got to get on with some business, so I can't really stay. But here," He threw fifty dollars down on the table in front of Sammie. "This should pay for everything. Maybe you can have lunch with this guy?" Brax winked at the both of them, before walking briskly away from the diner.

"Is that your brother?" Dex asked, his face in a state of wonder. Sammie nodded. "He's pretty freaking cool!" He said in awe.

"Mm, he has his moments." Sammie mused. "So…how do you fancy spending this money on something a little more worth while with me?" Sammie cocked an eyebrow at an unsure looking Dex, waving her new found wealth around in the air.

"Um…okay?" He said, completely unsure of exactly what she meant. He knew one thing though, this girl was going to be trouble.

A/N: I know nothing, I repeat, nothing about surfing. Please don't judge me :P Also, sorry it's been so long since I updated. Works been keeping me pretty busy, and as the Summer weather is finally starting to come (and hopefully stay) here in England, I have been outside a lot. Again, very sorry :D


	8. Chapter 8

Sammie walked at a fast pace, Dex struggling to keep up behind her. He was out of breath, sweaty and his leg muscles ached like hell. They must've walked miles, all the way from Summer Bay into Mangrove River. Sammie seemed to have no trouble walking the long distance in her Roxy flip-flops, her long brown legs moving fast through the last part of their journey.

"Where exactly are we going?" Dex asked, he'd been wanting to know ever since the two had left the diner about an hour ago.

"You'll see." Sammie said simply, quickening her pace slightly. "We're nearly there now anyway." And with that, she stopped dead and stared out into the distance.

"This is it?" Dex said, staring out into the distance along with his new friend. He was looking at a huge field, full of burnt grass. In the background were a line of thick trees, and a big blue barn - possibly three times the size of Dexter's house.

"This is it." She smiled, continuing on her walk toward the barn. "It's an old barn that's been turned into a dirt biking track. My brother Heath used to bring me up here all the time." She smiled at the memories of getting thrashed by her older brother in the races they used to hold.

"You…brought me dirt biking?" Dex asked, a pained expression on his face.

"Yeah." She looked at him, smiling, honestly clueless. "You don't like dirt biking?"

The Walker boy just shook his head. "You honestly don't know anything about me, do you?" He furrowed his brows together, his look a mixture of curiosity and angst.

"You're a guy!" She declared, they had now reached their destination and she turned to face him, her arms crossed over her chest. "You have to like dirt biking. All the guys I know like dirt biking." Sammie also wore a confused expression.

"Can we just get this over with?" Dex sighed, walking toward a man he assumed owned this place. "Hey sir, do you work here?" Dex asked the man. He was huge; maybe about 6"5, with muscles to rival the incredible Hulk. He was covered in tattoos, and wore a bandana over his head and a sleeveless flannel shirt.

"What's it to you, kid?" He asked gruffly, his voice rough and gravely - probably from years of smoking. Just as Dex was about to turned around and run away, the strange man caught sight of Sammie. "Oh hey Sam, didn't see you there." He laughed, a deep hollow laugh, and stepped toward the much smaller girl. To Dex's surprise, she didn't seem intimidated by the guy at all.

"Hey Nick." The girl smiled the first friendly smile Dex had seen from her. "How's business?""Better than ever." He replied, as if they were just two old friends chatting over nothing. "I've just finished laying a brand new track out back, I'll let you have a go on it if you want."

"I'd love that." Sammie smiled. Dex just watched on, surprisingly interested in the conversation, and wondering how two people who looked so different could be so close.

Then again, Sammie did have a slightly rough look about her. Dex had never seen her wearing any make-up, like his sister Indi and just about every other girl in Summer Bay did. Not that it mattered much, she was still better looking than most of the girls that Dex had ever seen. And she didn't wear fancy clothes either - it was always ripped jeans or shorts and a tank top. Never anything that screamed expensive. She also walked like a dude, Dex had noticed, and had more muscles than he could ever dream of having. She was what Dex would call conventionally attractive, but she didn't seem to realise it, or even take advantage of it.

"So how are your brothers?" Dex snapped back to reality, and began listening to the conversation again.

"They're good." Sammie nodded. "Brax is doing well, and Heath is just…Heath." Her voice sort of trailed off toward the end of her sentence, laced with disappointment.

"Well you'll have to get them down here again some time soon. I'll give them some free rides as a thanks for their little present they gave me."

"Present?" Sammie questioned, cocking her head to the side a little.

"Doesn't matter." Nick smirked. "You don't wanna know! Is it just the two of you?""Yes please." Sammie smiled, handing over the fifty dollar note.

"Have fun kids." Nick raised his eyebrows at Dex, a gesture Dex didn't exactly appreciate. "Don't kill yourselves." He muttered under his breath.

Sammie dragged Dex, with great force, all the way through the barn and out through the back doors, where two big red dirt bikes were parked in front of them. Sammie bounced on the front one, turning on the loud engine immediately. "Hop on." She motioned to the other bike with her thumb.

Dex just stood his ground, shaking his head. "Not that I'm an expert on dirt biking, but don't you need a license to drive one of these?" He tried to act cool, whilst on the inside he was smiling at his genius.

"Don't be a dingbat Dex." She laughed. "Nick doesn't care about licenses. This place isn't exactly above board." She winked at him, revving the engine.

Dex's internal smirk disappeared, and dread filled his entire body. "If you don't feel comfortable hopping on your own bike, just jump on mine."

Dex didn't exactly think that was a good idea, but decided it was going to be the lesser of two evils, and so he jumped on the bike right behind Sammie, carefully wrapping his hands around her slim torso. He could smell her sweet perfume, and the feeling of her soft skin on his made his hairs stand on end.

"Hold on tightly." She shouted over the engine, revving the engine up, and going forward at what Dex could only guess was full speed.

Both teenagers hopped off the red bike; one feeling exhilarated and the other, slightly traumatised. Dex had been scared stiff for the whole ten minutes they had been riding, but had tried to tough it out, not wanting to seem like a wimp in front of Sammie. Eventually though, he just had to tell her to stop. It was all getting too much, and he had visions of them both falling off, their unprotected heads hitting the dried mud with great force.

"That was amazing, right?" Sammie slung her arm around Dex's neck as they walked back to the barn, both very sweaty.

"Sammie, there are many things I would describe as amazing, and what I just went through, is definitely not one of them." Dex snarled.

"You're so weird Dex." Sammie laughed, she turned her body to face him, and pressed her warm body up against his. "It's a good job I like weird.

A/N: Yeah so, as you can probably tell, I moonlight as a professional dirt-biker (I kid.) But seriously, the only thing I know about dirt biking is what I learned from the episode of MADE I watched the other day. So yeah, sorry if I offended any dirt bikers out there with my crappy knowledge. Hope you enjoyed J


	9. Chapter 9

When Sammie got home, it was late. She had spent the night in Summer Bay chilling with Dex and his friend April, who she'd really gotten along with. They'd had a great time, not doing anything special, just sitting in the Diner with chocolate Milkshakes and talking. She had insisted on walking home on her own, and even took a special detour she liked to take - to think things was pleased to see Casey's bedroom light on; that meant he was home, and she could tell him about her new found friends.

However, when she stepped inside the warm house, the whole of the days events were instantly forgotten as the sound of her mother's screaming filled her ears. She looked over at Casey, who was leant on the kitchen counter. He shook his head slowly at his sister, and Sammie took that as a sign to not even try and talk to her mother, who was shouting down the phone, cursing like sailor. Casey moved into the safety of his room, and Sammie followed him, determined to find out the truth.

"What's wrong? What's happened Case?" She walked into the room to see Casey sat on his bed, his head in his hands. Her voice was full of panic."It's Heath." Casey spoke through his hands, an angry tone to his voice. "He's been arrested for assault."

Sammie couldn't believe it. She walked over to her brother's bed and sat on it, her legs shaking all of a sudden. "Whaa…" She tried to talk, but didn't really have enough air in her to do so. She sat there, truly surprised and worried. Both Brax and Heath had been in trouble with the police plenty of times before, they were hated by cops all over the place. And they hated the cops too. You could say the police were the Braxton's only sworn enemies. But never, had Sammie ever expected her brothers to actually end up in jail, they just seemed…invincible."He'll be okay though," She found her breath again, and used to it try and reassure the both of them. "Brax is with him, he'll get him out in no time, right?" She had a hard time swallowing, her throat had gone dry.

"If that's what you want to keep telling yourself." Casey said unenthusiastically, his red eyes glazed over from tiredness. "He smashed a bottle over a guys head apparently, even Brax is going to have a hard time getting him out of that one."Sammie felt like crying, and she did so, one tear dripping down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and stood up enthusiastically. "Well why don't we go to the police station and see him." She just wanted to do something to help."Don't bother, it's too late." Casey's voice sounded tired and fed up, and he laid back on his bed. "Just go to bed sis, worry about it in the morning. It's too…" And with that, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Sammie pulled the covers over him, and went into the living room to find her mum sat there smoking, a beer bottle in hand. "Mum." She went over and sat next to her mother on the sofa. "Is Heath going to be okay?" She wanted the reassurance that she didn't get from Casey from her mum.

"Who knows?" Cheryl sighed nonchalantly. "I'm not sure I even care anymore." Cheryl's eyes remained firmly on the television screen the whole time, her eyes not even glazing over her decided it was probably best to try and get some sleep, and left her mother on the couch, drinking away her sorrows.

As she crawled into her cold, hard bed, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wonder over to Heath.

_"Keep your feet on the pedals, don't let them touch the floor." A sixteen year old Heath was having trouble suppressing his laughter, as he watched his baby sister struggle to keep herself from falling off the bike. He had been trying to teach her to ride for a few weeks now, and this was her 3rd time on the track. She wasn't very good at it, but Heath knew she would get there in the end. After all, she was just like their brother Brax; strong and determined."Promise you won't let go of the bike Heath?" A young Sammie pleaded with her older brother, absolutely scared stiff."I promise Sam." His strong arm kept a firm hold on the back of his sister's bike, as she slowly progressed forward on the they went further and further around the track, Sammie found herself feeling more and more confident in her ability. "I think you can let go now, Heath." The young girl said, her voice still indicating that she was unsure. Heath didn't really want to let go, but knew he had to. He never let his younger brother or sister wimp out of anything. He had taken it upon himself to teach them how to be tough. After all, Brax was just soft with the two youngest Braxton's, and they needed to learn how to protect themselves."Okay…Here goes." Heath let go of the bike, and cheered loudly when his sister zoomed forward of her own accord, accumulating speed by the second. He really was every inch the proud big brother._

The sound of the front door slamming awakened Sam from her slumber. She was groggy for a moment, until she remembered what she had learned last night. She sat up quickly, it was still dark outside, meaning it hadn't hit morning. She found herself running to greet whoever had come through the door. "Heath?" She yelled almost quietly, while she was disappointed, seeing only Brax standing by the door. "Oh…hey." She looked down to her feet, all the hope flooding out of her.

"Wow, I've had better greetings than that before." He joked, chucking his jacket on one of the kitchen chairs.

"I'm sorry." Sammie's voice wobbled. "How's Heath?"

"Oh he's fine." Brax said casually, as if their brother was just staying at a friends house, not actually in jail. "Well if he's so fine, then why hasn't he come home with you?" She snapped angrily at him. She didn't mean to, she was just worried for Heath.

"Look, Sammie, don't worry about it." He walked closer to his sister, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I'm posting his bail tomorrow morning as soon as I can get to the bank. I'll sort it out, you know I always do. Heath will be fine."

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry. You always sort stuff out Brax." Sammie apologised, her body now slightly less tense.

"Go back to bed." Brax smiled a convincing smile at his sister.


	10. Chapter 10

The next day, Sammie woke up feeling slightly panicked. She quickly got changed out of her pyjamas, pulling on a pair of denim shirts and a black tank top. She ran through to the main part of the house, disappointed when she didn't see the middle Braxton brother there, as she had expected. Disheartened, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee, not really wanting to drink it, but she had to do something to keep her mind off her family issues. At that moment, her mother walked into the kitchen, still in her dressing gown, her hair hanging limply over her shoulders.

"You're up early darling." She said, her voice eerily happy.

"I didn't exactly sleep well." The youngest Braxton replied to her mother's comment, taking a sip of her luke-warm coffee.

"Me either." Cheryl replied. "I can't believe your stupid brother, always getting himself caught by the cops." She spoke rudely of her middle son. At that moment, Brax and Heath both walked into the kitchen, Heath looking worn out.

"Heath!" Sammie ran to her older brother and hugged him tightly, extremely glad to have him home.

"Hey Sam!" Heath didn't exactly return the hug, but instead patted his sisters back lightly, a bemused look on his face.

"Are you hungry?" She fussed. "You look tired, are you tired? Would you like me to cook you some breakfast? What about you Brax? Are you hungry?"

The three adults laughed, it was typical of the youngest Braxton to want to cook for her brothers when there was a problem.

"I'm fine thanks Sam-wich." He smiled, using the familiar nick-name that he knew she hated. "Fancy going for a surf though." He looked at Brax, and then back to Sammie. "You fancy it?" He asked the both of them.

"I would love to." Sammie gleamed, so relieved that everything seemed to be back to normal. "I'll go see if Casey's up." She passed both her brothers and her mother, and went toward Casey's room.

"Case?" She knocked. "Casey are you in there?" There was a quiet grunt from her brothers room, and she took that as a hint to enter. Casey was still in bed…typical.

"Hey lazy, you wanna coming surfing with me, Heath and Brax?" She asked hopefully.

"Nghh." Was the only reply she got, and she took it as a no. Casey was always a grump in the mornings, well, he was always a grump period.

As three of the four Braxton siblings walked toward the beach, surf boards hung casually under their arms, they sure were a sight to see. The two men were muscle bound and tanned, their chiselled faces and messy hair only adding to their already Adonis features. The girl, obviously a few years younger, was almost as tall as her two brothers, and despite her young age, had a perfect hourglass figure, back length blonde hair, baby blue eyes and sharp cheekbones, with an upturned nose. They certainly were a good looking family. In fact, no-one in Summer Bay could stop looking at the three beautiful figures. Not just because of their appearances, but also, because the night before, two of them were caught up in a big fight, at Angelo's.

News like this spread fast in Summer Bay, and was taken very seriously by the inhabitants. The people who lived there were not happy to see the two men strolling so casually down to their beach.

"Why is everybody looking at us?" Sammie asked naively.

"Well…" Brax began. "We might have got into a bit of trouble last night.""Trouble?" Sammie stopped dead in her tracks. "What do you mean trouble? Were you guys in a fight."

"Look it wasn't out fault. They just had a problem with us being there." Heath chipped in.

"Yeah? I wonder why?" Sammie spat her words at her two brothers. "Why can't you just stay out of trouble."The two boys looked at their sister sheepishly. It was always the same thing every time either of them got in trouble with the police.


	11. Chapter 11

Sammie sat on the beach, looking out into the ocean. It was a particularly nice day, the sun was out and the blue water was glistening - inviting people in. But Sammie didn't really fancy the water at this moment in time, she was too busy sulking on the beach. Having wondered off from her brothers, she waited for them to leave the beach, hiding in the trees, before going out to sit in the sand, all on her own.

"I thought I might find you here." A small voice, coming from behind her, startled Sammie as she turned round to see her friend Dex standing there, flip flops in hand.

"Hey." She said moodily, turning her attentions back onto the ocean.

"You look like I feel. You wanna talk about it?" He asked, sitting down beside her. Dex didn't really like the ocean, but he was willing to sit there and stare at it for hours if it meant helping his friend.

"Not really." Sammie was looking down at her feet now, a sad look on her face. This was the first time Dex had seen her look vulnerable. Most of the time she was so bouncing and full of energy, and her posture was threatening. But today, she was hunched over, her face as glum as the moon. "It's just family stuff, y'know?"

Dex knew, he knew exactly what she meant. The two of them sat there in silence for a little while, both staring at the feet. They sat together, quiet as anything, like two people who had known each other for years, and just enjoyed each others company. It was comforting for both of them to know that they weren't alone, that there was someone who understood them.

"There she is!" Sammie recognised the voice of Heath, as she turned round to see all three of her brothers walking toward her.

"I better go, I'd rather not get beaten up by your brothers." Dex smiled at Sammie kindly, before getting up and wiping the sand off his jeans. "Good luck!"

"Thanks." She smiled back appreciatively, and he walked off, away from her and her brothers.

"Where did you get to?" Heath asked obnoxiously as the three of them reached their youngest sister on the sand. Sammie had to fight off the urge to go up to him and punch him in the face.

"I just needed some time to think." She was still sat down, and still looking out into the ocean, refusing to look at her siblings.

"Yeah, well next time you run off like that, can you please just keep your phone on or something?" Brax inquired calmly, a concerned tone to his voice.

"Will do." Sammie replied absent-mindedly, and directed her gaze back down to her feet. She heard some mumbling behind her, and eventually two pairs of footsteps walked off in the direction of the water, and one walked up closer to her.

Casey Braxton sunk down onto the sand next to his sister, carefully placing his surf board on the ground.

"Brax said you stormed off after he told you about Heath's arrest." Casey suggested, understandingly.

"You knew as well?" Sammie asked bitterly. "You knew what he did and you didn't tell me?"

"I did tell you, I said he got arrested for hitting some guy over the head with a bottle."

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me that he actually did it." Sammie started tearing up, and Casey put his arm lightly around her shoulder. "I thought it was just police blaming him like it usually is."

"Don't cry." Casey whispered, rubbing his sisters back lightly.

"Why couldn't I just be born into a normal family? One that doesn't cause grievous bodily harm to others, and hang about in a gang?"

"I know how you feel." Casey feigned sympathy. "I want to get out too. Maybe we can, one day.""Yeah right. It's like you always say; Mangrove River's a black hole. No one gets out." She wiped a stray tear off her bronzed cheek.

"Well maybe I was wrong." Casey admitted. "Maybe if we tried hard at school, we could get out and make a life for ourselves. How does that sound?" He suggested, his only intention was to cheer up his sister.

"Sounds good." She sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

"And don't worry about Brax and Heath, they can take care of themselves."Sammie smiled at her brother, silently thanking him for reassuring her. He was quite possibly the only person who never failed to cheer her up.

"Fancy a surf?" Casey suggested, helping his sister up before they both walked off, into the glistening blue ocean.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day at school, Sammie was back to her old self again. She met up with April by her locker, something that had become part of her everyday routine recently, and together they began walking to her first class.

"I am so tired." Her new friend sighed, dramatically blowing an invisible piece of hair out of her face.

"Tell me about it. I spent all night last night on the beach, and then when I got home, I realised I still had some history homework to do." Both girls laughed half-heartedly, nearing Sammie's classroom.

As they rounded the corner, they noticed that there was a crowd of people gathered, all staring into one place. The voice of Romeo Smith came about. "You think you're so tough, don't you? You and your brothers?"

Sammie saw that it was her brother that Romeo was shouting at, and that he had Casey pinned up against a wall, and immediately rushed to her brothers aid. "What's going on here?" She demanded, looking at Casey, before turning and glaring in Romeo's direction.

"Romeo here was just trying act the big tough guy, weren't you Romeo?" Casey sneered, not breaking the eye contact he held with the blonde surfer boy.

"Is that right?" Sammie took a step closer to Romeo, and for a minute there, she could've sworn he seemed scared of her.

Ignoring his sister, Casey shoved Romeo backwards, causing his attentions to be turned back to the older Braxton. "What my brothers get up to has _nothing_ to do with me." He spoke through gritted teeth, before running off down the hall way, in the same direction Sammie had just come from.

"Casey! Casey, wait up!" She called after her brother, having no trouble catching up with him. "Hang on a sec!"

Casey spun round angrily, almost pushing his sister over in the process. "I don't need you to keep sticking up for me, okay? I can look after myself!" He screamed in her face, raising his arms in the air.

"I was just trying to help." She said sullenly, she could feel her bottom lip quivering. She _wasn't_ going to cry again!

"I don't need your help." He began walking again, ignoring the fact that his sister was obviously upset. "I just want to be left alone!"

Sammie stood alone in the corridor. The crowd had now dispersed, and were probably already in their class-rooms, gossiping about the scene that had just unfolded in front of them. Fighting back the bitter tears, she walked to her first class - music.

"You're late!" Liam Murphy exclaimed as she walked through the door of his classroom, standing up from the seat behind his desk.

"Yeah, and?" Sammie shrugged her shoulders, casually, taking a seat at the back of the classroom, away from the prying eyes of her fellow gossiping classmates.

"And? We've already started the lesson Samantha." He spoke angrily, staring directly at her.

Sammie rolled her eyes, she hated being called that, even if it was her real name. "I have my reasons. I'm sure you'll hear about them soon enough." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

The rest of the class was mind-numbingly boring. Music was just something that Sammie never understood, it was too complicated for her taste, and she didn't see the point in it. Jason, a boy with whom Sammie shared many of her classes with, and who was a total pervert, spent the whole lesson winking at her and trying to catch her attention as usual, and the exact same students answered all the questions.

The rest of the morning kind of went past in a blur too. Sammie didn't really pay attention to any of her teachers, or her fellow students. Walking from class to class, she must've bumped into a dozen different people, not even noticing. She just couldn't stop thinking about what Casey had said to her earlier.

It wasn't until lunch time, when Dex caught up with her, that she really snapped out of her trance.

"Hey." He said cautiously as the two were walking out of the building to go to the diner to get some lunch. "So I heard what happened between Romeo and Casey earlier." He chose his words wisely, making sure not to upset her.

"Yeah, I think everyone has by now." She frowned, just wanting to forget about it.

"Look, if you need to talk to anyone, I'm here for you.""Thanks Dex." She smiled appreciatively as they neared the diner.

Inside, there was a bit of a commotion going on at the till. To Sammie's surprise, Heath was in the diner. The commotion was coming from Colleen, and Colleen was screaming at Heath.

"Hooligans! The lot of you!" She screeched, as the rest of the River Boys sat at a table nearby, laughing extremely loudly. Colleen was waving her tea-towel around in the air, as if for dramatic effect.

"What's happening here?" She asked Heath, as she stood next to her brother at the till.

"This old bats refusing to serve me and the boys!" He mocked, giving Colleen his classic, scary "bad-boy" look .

"Is that right?" Sammie asked Colleen, folding her hands over her chest, just to let Colleen know she meant business.

"Well, yes." Colleen looked down, looking slightly afraid. "They've no right to be here." She sniffed.

Sammie laughed, a cold, callous laugh. "And you have no right not to serve them, they're not causing any trouble. I'm sure that trading standards would be very pleased to hear that you are refusing to serve perfectly _innocent customers."There was a small pause, before Colleen huffed, looked down at her feet and then back to Heath again. "What would you like?" She asked sheepishly._

_Heath gave Colleen his order, and she stalked off into the kitchen to prepare the food._

"_You truly are a force to be reckoned with sis! This might just be some of your finest work yet." Heath smirked proudly, his impressive white teeth on show._

"_What can I say?" Sammie pretended to be modest, whilst the rest of the River Boys cheered her on._

"_I have to agree." Dex spoke, only when Heath had gone to sit back down. "That's pretty impressive, not many people can put Mrs Smart in her place.""Well…" Sammie grinned. "I'm not many people!"_


End file.
